GANSBAAI, South Africa (21 Mar 2005) -- After baiting and provoking a great white shark to attack an underwater cage that encloses thrill-seeking tourists, a shark cage diving operator brutually mutilated the animal for damaging his buoy and sinking the cage. Not to be outdone by TV adventure show host Nigel Marven and shark entertainer Erich Ritter, UK tabloids picked up the story describing the incident in terms of heroic and courageous humans overpowering a gigantic killer beast. "I was in the water and this big shark circled me twice before it started attacking and crushing the side of the cage, then the captain was hitting it on the head with an iron pole," exclaimed Mark Currie, a 32-year-old tourist. "I was holding on to the cage trying to survive and the shark nearly bit my arm off," Currie told reporters. When asked which arm he nearly lost in the attack, Currie, clearly overwhelmed by the "spine-tingling excitement of shark cage diving", could not remember, nor was he treated for injuries after the incident. The boat captain, a five-year shark feeding veteran, declined to comment on the incident other than to complain that before he started hitting the shark with an iron pole, the animal "viciously and deliberately damaged" one of his buoys and sank his shark diving cage. | | Feed 'em, film 'em, mutilate 'em--then go back to port and count the money... "I think the captain was rather angry because he had to buy a new cage for the boat trips," Currie explained. In the wake of shark attacks that injured surfers, killed swimmers and terrorized tourists in South Africa's beach resort areas, the shark cage diving industry in South Africa has come under fire for endangering public safety and harassing marine wildlife. In 2001, shark feeding was banned in Florida, the Cayman Islands and Hawaii after a two-year battle between environmentalists and a dive industry coalition led by PADI and DEMA, which oppose government regulations aimed at protecting public safety and marine wildlife. © CDNN - CYBER DIVER NEWS NETWORK |
